The Simple Things
by Vywien is me
Summary: As Lily starts falling for a certain bespectacled boy with messy, unkempt hair, she ponders over what makes him so special and realizes that she is complicating things too much and that the answer is actually very, very simple. JPLE Just cute fluff.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own it.

Title inspired by the song "The Simple Things" by Jim Brickman, which is a really beautiful song that you should all listen to. =]

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It's always the little simple things that trigger something huge and complicated.

It's always the minute things that make a BIG difference.

You know how sometimes, you see an attractive guy and you think to yourself "Wow, I think I like him"? Then you go about carrying out that thought through your actions – spending more time with said boy, feeling happy when he pays a bit more attention to you, feeling sad when he doesn't... and so forth.

But what about the guy that you can't help but fall for regardless of whether you find him attractive or not...and it is completely out of your control? The feelings and emotions come _before_ the thought "Wow, I think I like him." It doesn't seem much different from the first scenario but it is an _enormous_ difference. What makes you fall for someone without thinking? What prompts you to feel certain emotions that you can't help feeling even if you don't want to? I got one answer for you: the little things.

I know that sounds extremely cliché, but it's completely true. I knew—truly knew, not just knew the concept, but _understood_—this fact when I started realizing that I had fallen completely head over heels for none other than James Potter.

This is how it happened: In seventh year, he came up to me one late night in the Gryffindor Common Room and said, "I probably shouldn't know this, but I'm pretty sure you're studying the wrong Arithmancy notes."

He was right, I wasn't paying much attention to what I was studying because I was completely preoccupied with something else. Actually, that "something else" happened to be the fact that James Potter had changed and matured through the years and how he wasn't exactly an arrogant prick anymore. He stopped hexing people for fun and for the hell of it, stopped strutting around like he owned the school, and became more considerate and selfless. And sadly, that took up my all my thoughts that evening and I somehow ended up grabbing the wrong Arithmancy notes because I wasn't paying the least bit of attention.

It seems like such a small incident but that statement was the key, the last puzzle piece. It just hit me right then and there with so much force that I could hardly breathe because all the air was knocked out of me: I loved him. It all came together in that one single moment: the burning passion, the overwhelming sensation that my heart was about to burst because it could not contain so overflowing an emotion, such fire.

He wasn't even in my Arithmancy class and he noticed. I guess you could call that stalker-ish but I guess I was already subconsciously falling for him so it just seemed downright caring to me instead. Also, he made the effort to let me know I was studying off the wrong notes. I mean...even though I wouldn't have been paying attention if they _were_ the correct notes, the gesture just meant a lot to me. And for the record, I _did_ ace that test so no harm done.

Anyways, back to my main point—So the little things prompt you to feel certain emotions. But _why_? Why did that simple statement make me feel such a complex and overwhelming emotion? It's not just because it showed how much he cared because I'm sure that had anyone else said it, it would not have evoked emotions even remotely comparable to what I felt. To that, I don't think there will ever be a definite, concrete answer. It just happened. Furthermore, although James has liked me for ages, he didn't say that for the purpose of making me realize my true feelings—who could've known something as small as that could stimulate such emotions in me? He said it without any alternative motives yet it somehow hit the bull's-eye of my heart, which started speeding up, pumping blood straight to my head, causing me to feel slightly light-headed.

I quickly composed myself and said with as much dignity as I could muster, "That's ridiculous, you're not in my class. Don't tell me what to study, I know very well what I need to look over."

"Yes, which is why this parchment dates back to last year. You always write the date in the right hand corner under your name. Besides, you read your notes out loud sometimes so I know this is definitely not what you have been studying for the past week."

I was perplexed. Thrown off. Completely and utterly stunned. I sat there gawking at him like an idiot for a few seconds at a loss for words. He noticed all the little things. Luckily, because it was past 2 AM, no one was around to witness my temporary dumbfounded state.

How could I have mistaken the notes I needed for LAST YEAR'S notes? I felt really stupid at that moment, especially because my brain seemed to have frozen over and I could not give a valid response.

I finally took a deep breath, filling my head with oxygen and decided to try and change the subject.

"What are you doing here at this hour anyways?"

"Couldn't sleep. Why are _you_ here? Because clearly, you're not studying." My breath hitched in my throat. He was grinning and I couldn't help but think about how adorable it made him look. It was such a simple act—grinning—yet it drove me up the walls.

"I—well, at least I tried."

"Whatever you say," he replied, running his hand through his untamed mess of hair. This motion, albeit trite, caused me to feel a surge of affection for him. It's ridiculous but I, for some strange reason, found it particularly attractive. I hated when he did that. Whenever he ruffles his hair, he just comes off as plain disheveled and disorganized. But at the same time, I loved it—I just get this tingling sensation in the pit of my stomach and what's more?—it was beyond my control.

"You might as well try teaching Sirius some manners," he shrugged. "Actually, come to think of it, that would probably be less effective."

I smiled—a true Duchenne smile. Sometimes you smile at people when they greet you but it's not completely genuine. Then there are those times when someone actually does something you find funny and you really can't help but smile. That's a Duchenne smile. And I'm starting to find that I smile effortlessly, even unwillingly sometimes, when James is around. I just can't help it. And just now, he made me smile with just a random, silly sentence.

Sure, I find a lot of people funny, but the _way_ James is funny really gets me. I don't know why. What's the difference really from one funny guy to another? They're both funny and both make me laugh...so what makes James so special? I've heard it said that it's when you see someone being absolutely ridiculous that you realize just how much you love them. But still...everyone has their ridiculous moments. Why is it that James can make me smile faster than anybody else can?

So then I was just really lost in my thoughts the next few moments and didn't notice him walk up to stand next to me. Suddenly aware that he was right next to me, I decided to shift the pressure back onto him by putting him in the spotlight instead.

"Why did you even care or notice that I was poring over the wrong notes?"

I looked up at him. Our eyes locked. I could see the light from the fireplace behind me dancing in those hazel pools. His eyes were soft but somehow managed to also be the most intense gaze I've ever held. However, I couldn't look away even though my face felt hot and I could feel him inching closer and closer.

And in that moment, we knew. No words needed to be said. We knew why he noticed. He knew I knew. And I knew he knew that I loved him. And in the next blur of an instant, his lips were on mine and what the hell was Arithmancy anyways? All I knew at that moment was that I was kissing James Potter, my hands were tangled in his hair, and his fingers were stroking my back.

We broke apart after a few minutes—hair mussed, lips swollen—and I realized. The answer to all my questions was very simple. What made James so special to me? What separated him from other guys? Basically, it's just because he is James Potter.

I've learned that you don't need to question everything—why that insignificant comment or notion from a special someone can have such a significant impact on you and why they're even a "special" someone to begin with. Because you know what?

The simple things just _are_.

**The end**

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I don't know, I kind of just squeezed this fanfiction out of my head because a lot was going through my mind and this was a good way to let my thoughts out. =]

Review.


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